Hostage
by AngeloftheMorning1978
Summary: Arthur's wife, Ariadne, and unborn baby are held hostage till he, Cobb and Eames complete an Extraction. Takes place after the events of 'Arthur's Secrets'.
1. Chapter 1

**Takes place after 'Arthur's Secrets'. **

Hostage

~ "Okay, what else do I need to tell you?" Arthur said shrugging on his coat. Edwina Sharp was scribbling down notes as the Point Man prepared to leave.

"Your going to need to call Mr. Mcline's before you land so he can arrange a car to pick you up." The tiny little woman said adjusting her glasses as she tried to balance her notes and Arthur's briefcase as the Point Man readied himself to leave.

Arthur gave out a long sigh.  
>"I shouldn't leave. My wife is eight months pregnant." He said feeling guilty.<p>

"And not due for another month." Edwina reminded him. "You have put off this trip to New York twice already. Everything will be fine. You'll be back in three days."

"Your right." Arthur grumbled as he took the briefcase from Edwina. Causing the arm load of papers to fall on the floor.

"Oh, it's okay." Edwina said. Looking embarrassed by her own clumsiness. She pushed up her horn rimed glasses and looked sadly at the pile of papers.  
>"I have to go." Arthur said regretting not helping her. "Okay, so about Ariadne, no watching TV unless it the Disney Channel with Darcy. No watching movies about people or dogs dieing. That includes '<em>All Dogs go to Heaven<em>' and especially not '_Titanic_'. Don't let her know that '_Warrior_' and '_50/50'_ are out." Arthur said remembering how his wife had cried at the movies.

"I still don't know why you let her see that. You know how hormonal she's been." Edwina said. Her natural voice sounding like she was trying to avert a cold.

"It said it was a comedy!" Arthur said defensively.

"A comedy about a guy with cancer." Edwina said not buying it.

"It had Seth Rogan in it." Arthur snapped at the small woman who served as his secretary. "Sorry." he said feeling the stress and hatred of leaving his heavily pregnant wife behind. "Alright. Ariadne is with Darcy and they are both with Cobb and the kids so when they get home, tell her I'll be in New York at about 4 in the afternoon, Paris time. I'll call her when I land."

"You won't make your flight unless you hurry." Edwina reminded him. Her voice sounding like an old school madam. "Your cab is downstairs and waiting."

"Right." Arthur said as he hurriedly grabbed his bags and left.

In the empty apartment, Edwina Sharp gathered up her papers. Balancing them once more in her small arms. Only to drop them again as she was going back to her office.

~ One the clean streets of the well kept neighborhood, Arthur apologized to the cabbie and loaded his bags in the trunk.

"Airport please." The Point Man said. The cab didn't move. "Hello?" he said to the driver.

The side door opened and a tall, older woman slid in effortlessly next to Arthur.  
>"Excuse me." Arthur said trying to sound polite.<p>

"No need to apologize, Arthur." The woman said. Her accent thick and hard to pin point. The Point Man felt his blood run cold at he realized she had called him by his first name.

She turned and looked at him as the cab drove off. Artfully maneuvering around the traffic.

"Who are you?" Arthur asked. An intense feeling that he should be afraid washed over him.

"That's not important." The woman said. "Cobb and Eames are waiting for us."

"What are you talking about?" Arthur asked.

"Arthur, I'm here to help you, your friends, your half sister, your wife and your unborn baby survive this." She said as if she were his best friend.

'_Open the door, tuck and roll. Get back to the apartment and get Ariadne on the phone. She knows our escape plan_.' He thought as he reached for the door handle.

"It's locked Arthur." The old woman said as if reading his mind. She finally glared at him. Her face heavily made up to hide the maze of wrinkles on her face.

"If you try and leave us, you will have effectively killed your wife." The woman said. "You fail to cooperate in anyway, you will have killed your wife. How many months along is she?" The old woman questioned. Her teeth showing the undeniable signs of age. Her eyes gleaming the angry bitter glint of someone who has lived too long and seen too much. "Well, then there's your little half sister. Darcy is it? The one who calls your Papa?" The old woman said in a sickly sweet tone.  
>"What do you want?" Arthur said feeling the urge to throttle this old hag. Her tacky manicured hands and her over priced name brand suit with loads of gaudy jewelry. The woman looked like a bad Joan Rivers impersonator.<p>

"We can discuss all that when we meet up with your friends." The old woman told him.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

~ The empty apartment building was under major construction and repair. Arthur rode up a rickety lift with the old woman as he sensed that they were alone in the building. The Point Man's head was spinning over ways he could escape and find Ariadne.

He desperately wanted to just snap the old hag's neck and leave. But he knew her threats against his family were very real. If she already had Cobb and Eames...

It was clear she was in control of the situation.

"You never told me what this is all about." He said coldly as the lift took them to the penthouse.

"Youth. So impatient." She said casually. "We will wait till your reunited with your colleges."

"Where is Ariadne?" He asked.

"She and the little girl, Darcy, are arriving at your home about now. After finding Mr. Cobb not at home, and his children alone, I'd presume she took them with her." The old woman said readjusting her tacky jewelry. "Human behavior is so predictable."

Finally they reached the top most level as the old lady bid the Point Man open the door for her. Her posture held up by a cane which she leaned heavily on. Arthur found it odd holding the door for her, seeing as he was the one being held hostage.

Inside a spacious, if completely gutted suite, Arthur saw Cobb and Eames handcuffed to two chairs. Neither one of them looking hurt. Only worried and more then a little scared.

"Here, young man." The old woman said handing him a little silver key. "Uncuff them please."

Arthur did as he was told and quickly freed his Team mates.

"Are you alright?" He whispered to Cobb and Eames.

"Yes." Cobb hissed back. "She showed up at my door and told me if I didn't get into the car with her, my children would be killed. You?"

"She was in my cab and told me Ariadne and Darcy would die if I didn't cooperate." Arthur sighed.

"We were hoping you would get away." Eames said.  
>"How did she get you?" Arthur asked him taking his time unlocking the Forger.<p>

"Told me Sadie would die. She and Ariadne, and the kids." Eames said with a shrug. "What was I supposed to do?  
>Arthur had to admire the simple beauty of it. This woman, whoever she was, had taken 3 grown men in the prime of their lives hostage without a gun, without anyone knowing or noticing they were in trouble. Her threats to their loved ones alone made them comply with this woman. She had been so calm and so knowledgeable about their lives, they didn't question it.<p>

"So." Eames said standing up and glaring at the their captor. "What's to keep the three of us from bum rushing you and going home?"

The old woman chuckled softly as she leaned on a cane. Her body looking too frail and withered in her clothing. Like she was a child playing dress up. She was lost in her clothes and jewelry.

"Please stay for just a few moments and allow me to give you a brief presentation. Then you can decide to stay or leave." She said.

The three men watched as the old woman pulled a canvas cloth off of horrific looking automatic gun.

"That's a..." Arthur started to say but lost his breath. His knowledge about such destructive hardware returning to him and making his blood run cold.

"Yes, some God awful name with numbers and what not. I got it from the military sale. Amazing what you can buy from cash strapped countries." She laughed. "For you gentleman who do not follow, this this is the 21st century equivalent of a cannon." She said looking at the device with indifference. As if an old fashioned cannon would have been fine. "It's one of the 'smart' weapons the military is so proud of. One that can identify a target from miles away and decimate it. I have it trained on your apartment, Arthur." She said casually flicking on a screen.

To his horror a large TV next to the cannon lit up in several panels. It showed his home by use of heat signatures, as well as what looked like hidden cameras inside his home and an areal view. He felt his heart leap into his chest as a sudden bulls eye engaged over an areal view of the apartment.

"It never misses." The old woman said calmly. "Right now, Ariadne and the children will be coming home and will be right in the center of the target."

"So what's to keep us from shutting this thing off ourselves?" Eames growled looking particularly intimidating.

"Don't think we are not being monitored Mr. Eames. Touch me, and this thing goes off. Even if the wife and kids are not killed, the collateral damage to the building alone will kill all your neighbors. Can you live with that?" She snapped. Her gaze fierce and lethal looking.

Arthur let out an silent cry as he watched the TV screen. His beautiful wife had just arrived home. James' hand held fast in hers as Darcy and Phillipa scampered inside. Edwina came to meet them and the two women talked.

The Point Man was filled with an irrational need to touch the screen as her lovely face came into view. Her heavily pregnant belly fully revealing it's self. He was swallowing hard as his eyes drifted to the menacing weapon trained on his apartment.

'_My whole life is there._' he thought.

"Would you like to hear them?" The old lady said. Snapping on the volume. "Don't be too mad at your secretary. She thought we were repair men when she allowed us inside to plant the bugs."

The noises of his own home came out clear and clean, as if they were in the room with them.

"What are you doing back so soon?" Edwina was saying.

"Oh, Cobb wasn't home." Ariadne said finally releasing James. The little boy chasing after his sister and Darcy.

"That's strange." Edwina said crinkling her nose.  
>"I know. He left the kids home alone. He doesn't do that. He would never do that." Ariadne said tossing her bag on a nearby chair. "He's also not answering his cell phone."<p>

"Arthur just left, he's on his way to the air port." Edwina said rubbing her tiny little nose with her lacy handkerchief.

"So we have to wait till he lands to call him." Ariadne said finally sitting down on the couch. Her hands going lovingly to her large belly as her husband watched and tried to stay calm.

The old lady handed Cobb his own cell phone. She had relived Arthur and Eames of their phones as well.  
>"Mr. Cobb. Please call Ariadne. Tell her you ran into an old friend and will be back home, safe and sound, in a few hours. If you keep doing what I say, you will be."<p>

As if in a trance, Cobb took his phone and they listened as Ariadne's cell phone went off in the apartment miles away.

"It's Cobb." Ariadne said looking at her cell phone. "Cobb? Where were you?" She chastised.

"I'm sorry, Ariadne. Listen, something has come up." The Extractor said robot like.

"You left the kids at home alone." The Architect scolded.

"I know, I'm sorry. Can you look after them for a few hours?" He asked. His tone dead and flat.

"Sure, their already here." Ariadne said. "Why weren't you at home?" She asked

"I... I ran into an old friend." Cobb said. Barely able to keep the tears out of his eyes.

It was a brief conversation. The Extractor wanting to tell her more but held back by the very real danger they were in. He finally hung up the phone and cast his captor a hard look.

"Very good Mr. Cobb." She said. "Very convincing. Now, let's get started shall we?"


	3. Chapter 3

3.

~ "So who are you?" Eames asked. "Cobol? NSA? CIA? MIB?"

"Very amusing Mr. Eames." The old lady said snapping off the TV making the Point Man's family vanish. Arthur almost shouted for her to turn it back on.

"Relax, child." The old woman said as if once again reading his mind. "Your wife and the little ones will be fine, just as long as you corporate. We have people watching them as we speak. Watching us as well." She used her cane to point to a series of security cameras all around the empty rooms.

The Point Man glared daggers at her as he stalked away from the screen. He had to believe she was telling the truth. She seemed to hold all the cards and knew what she wanted.

"As to who I am, none of that is important. You may say, I work with an agency who is able to easily infiltrate you lives and find out everything about them. We have been monitoring you for some time. The cameras were installed just a week ago. Do not worry, we are not voyeurs." She said as if that would put them at ease.

"How long have you been monitoring us?" Eames asked casually leaning on the chair he had been cuffed to.  
>"Since the successful inception of one Robert Fischer." The old woman said. Her body was old and decaying, but her mind seemed to be just as sharp and formidable as a woman much younger.<p>

"Who?" Cobb asked. The plan for the Team whenever someone mentioned the Fischer inception. The old woman chuckled.  
>"Very good Mr. Cobb. <em>Who<em> indeed." She said with an amused smile. "Almost 3 years ago, you fine young men, along with a Chemist named Yuseff and your Architect, went into the dreams of Robert Fischer. Only heir to his father's empire. You were employed by a man named Saito. A thrill seeking business man who wanted you to plant an idea in his rival's mind to break up the family company."

"Have no idea what you talking about." Eames said looking casually.

As if on instinct, the old lady whipped out a remote control and the TV snapped back into life. The large cannon also seemed to spring to life and started to hum as it readied it's self to fire.

"No!" Arthur shouted as the targeting was directly aimed at the apartment. He could see his wife sitting on the sofa as the kids were coloring.

James was attempting to play with the girls but Darcy wasn't letting him.

"Go away! We don't want boys!" Darcy shouted. Her long, curly blond hair tired away from her face in a pink ribbon.

"Darcy!" Ariadne said soothingly. "Let James play with you."

The little boy was crying as he sought comfort in the arms of the Architect who was hushing him and smoothing out his hair.

"Do not test me Mr. Eames." The old woman said in a biting tone. "Your charms only gain you so much ground before they become an irritant."

She turned to all of the men.

"Now, should I end this vial example of domestic bliss? Or, do you feel like you can corporate?" She said looking at each of them with her cold unforgiving eyes.

"Tell us what you want." Arthur said feeling defeated. "Just... just tell us what it is you want."

~ The old lady was sitting in a chair as she explained. Her body seeming tired and winded from the days events.

"We have in our possession a man who has information we need. A man who is not talking, despite our best efforts." She said. Her appearance seeming more human now.

"Who is it?" Cobb asked.

"I can't tell you that." She said.

"What kind of information are you looking for?" Eames asked.

"I can not tell you that either." She told him.

"Well..." Eames said with a chuckle. "That might be difficult."

"I disagree, Mr. Eames." She said with a hiss. "I think you and your colleagues can make this very easy."

"Why didn't you just _hire_ us? I think it would have been easier and probably cheaper then all of this." Arthur said finally finding his voice.

"That's simple young man." She said. "You and your friends are willing to do elaborate corporate espionage for money and favors from people his high places. Never trust a man who is willing to break the law for a payday." She told them. "You fine gentleman needed an _incentive_ to do the job."

"So, you want us to go into the mind of... whoever." Cobb said brushing off the insult. "Get information that we can't know about, and give it to you."

She nodded.

"And you want this all done in a couple of hours?" Cobb asked. The Extractor shook his head. "Can't be done. Typical job like this takes weeks of research and preparation."

"Well, you had better find a way to get it done in the time allotted." The old woman said. "We have wasted enough time already and we only have a few hours before we have to find... more unpleasant ways of making him talk." She said with a steeling glare. "I'm not a fan of those measures."

"If we do this." Arthur said. "If we get this information, you'll let my family go?" He asked. His normally calm facade was lost. He was lost in his fear for all the lives that were housed in that apartment.

"You have my word that they will never even know what happened here today." The old woman said. "We are not sadists."

"Arthur?" Cobb whispered.

"Dom, it's your family in that apartment too." The Point Man growled. "Your going to have to give us some idea as to what were looking for." Arthur said to the old woman.

The old hag smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

~ Ariadne was smoothing James' hair away from the little boy's face as he started to calm down. The girls not letting the only boy in the room play with them.

"It's alright." She whispered softly to him. She noticed for the first time how much he was starting to look like Cobb. His face and eyes were so much like his father's. Why had she never seen it before?

She kissed the top of his head as he curled next to her. Liking the softness of her body the pregnancy caused. She was surprised to hear the doorbell ring. Sadie would have called ahead and she wasn't expecting anyone.

"Stay here kids." She told the young ones as they played quietly.

She looked out the peep hole to see a large Japanese man looking very angry.

"Who is it?" She called out. Keeping the door locked fast.

"A messenger." The man said gruffly.

"From who?" She asked.

"He said to say; from_ Mr. Charles_." the man said in broken English.

Ariadne's mind raced as she unlocked the door. The man on the other side was even larger and scarier then she had thought. Clearly he was hired security.

"I have a letter from a man who says to call him _Mr. Charles_." He said handing her a sealed envelope. Ariadne didn't take her eyes off her guest as she took the envelope. She watched as he gave her a curt nod and left.

She was quick to shut the door again and lock it. Her intuition causing her to lock her doors and look worriedly around the apartment.

"Kids, play nice. I'm going to the bathroom." She said and hastily left them coloring. James looking at her with Cobb's scowl.

"Okay." Phillipa sang out as the Architect had to waddle her way into the bathroom. Clutching her large belly in the process.

Once inside, she locked the door and tore open the envelope from Saito.

~ "You can call me Genesis." The old lady said as she led them down a hall way. The sharp thump of her cane echoing loudly, announcing her arrival.

"Because that's when you were born?" Eames asked reflexively.

Arthur and Cobb gave him a shocked and disgusted stare as the Forger shook his head in disbelief. Even he was shocked he had said it.

"You become less and less charming with every passing second Mr. Eames." Genesis said showing them into a room.

It was bare except for a series of office chairs set in a circle. The only person in the room was a figure with a cloth sack over his head. On a small table in the center of the circle of chairs was a metal brief case.

"I trust this will suffice." Genesis said.

"Tell us what your looking for." the Point Man said as he artfully opened the PASIV. He glanced over the compound. Nothing too exotic, It was a standard formula used by the Team on basic extractions. He sighed, that was good. If they died in the dream, they could wake up.

"I can tell you only that the subject will guard the secrets he has in his mind very closely. He will require your greatest of skill." Genesis said.  
>"We will give it our best shot." Arthur said, his voice that of the Point Man's. "But there is no guarantee this will work." He stood up and stared the frail old lady down. "But I need your<em> guarantee <em>that even if we fail, you won't harm my family." He said.

Genesis stared back at him. Her dark, beady eyes a menacing evil.

"I can only guarantee their safety as long as you get that information." She hissed. Obviously not intimated by the Point Man.

"Arthur." Cobb said gently as Arthur and Genesis were engaged in a staring contest. Arthur's face was an angry mask. Nothing about him was the same as it had been an hour ago.

"Arthur." Cobb repeated. "Let's go in."

"Right." Eames said taking a chair next to the Extractor. "Who's dream is it then?" The Forger asked taking a white line Cobb handed him.

"Mine." Cobb said thinking fast as Arthur finally left the old lady and sat across from the Extractor and Forger.

It was then they noticed the empty chair in the room. Genesis taking that seat and pulling her own line from the PASIV.

"I didn't have a chance to tell you I would be accompanying you on this trip." She said casually. "Mr. Eames was too busy being humorous." She added.

"Can't promise the compound will be good for you health." Cobb said with a scowl. The memory of the cannon pointed at his son and daughter, as well as his friend and her unborn baby, still in his mind.

"I assure you Mr. Cobb, I'll be fine." She said.

"Enough of this." Arthur growled, leaning down to press the red activation button.

Arthur felt his brain grow heavy and his eyes start to shut against his will. He fell into blackness in just seconds.

~ In a secluded van no one noticed, Specks watched Genesis and the three man she had brought to the penthouse go under with the device.

"You better hope your right, you old bat." He muttered as he pushed up his horn rimmed glasses.

He sipped loudly on the almost empty energy drink as he watched the Team for a while. He clumsily stuffed more Cheetos in his face and rubbed the excess cheese fluff off on his Batman T-shirt.

Then his eyes went back to the brats and the pregnant lady in the apartment. They were so boring and he vaguely thought about engaging the cannon just to have something to do. He shook his head at the idea. The woman and the kids might be boring, but had his orders. Do nothing until the old lady gave the word.

The lady who was having a baby had gone to the bathroom but now she was back. She had gotten a telegram a little while ago. Maybe for a neighbor, because the family's name wasn't Charles. She must have just signed for it. The microphones in the apartment had provided him with that information. Also that kids made a lot of noise.

He scrolled over the hidden cameras of the apartment looking for that tiny little secretary, Edwina Sharp. She had let him in under the guise of wire maintenance for the decorator. Never suspecting he was there to plant the bugs all over the apartment. He had liked her right away and found he kept looking for her on the camera. Time when he should have been watching that boring couple.

He found her in her room. Reading a thick romance novel. Her hand to her little nose as she brushed a lacy handkerchief over it. A smile playing over her face.

She looked so pretty when she was reading. Her face lost in the moment of the story as she pushed up her own thick, dark framed glasses.

Specks was so busy watching Edwina, he never saw the device Ariadne had pulled out of a drawer in the kitchen and activate. Suddenly, all camera's that were trained on the apartment went to static.

For hours, Specks tired to get the signal back. Never suspecting the Architect had used a jamming device to disrupt all the cameras that he had used to spy on them.


	5. Chapter 5

5.

~Before Mal died, Cobb had been an excellent Architect. Not as naturally good as Ariadne, but he could still create impressive dreams.

The Team of four arrived in a crowded train station. The hustle and noise of busy commuters bumping against the men and frail old woman as they searched for their Mark.

"Needle in a hay stack anyone?" Eames said with a laugh.

"Why did you bring us here Cobb?" Genesis hissed. "We shall never find him in this mess."

"We can always find the Mark in a dream." Arthur assured her.

"These people are his projections." Cobb said. "I've never seen so many from one Mark before." The Extractor added looking around. To the Team he whispered. "Just don't draw attention to yourselves. There are paradoxes on the stair wells. Eames, were going to pull a bail out ploy."

The Forger and Point Man nodded.

"There he is." Genesis said pointing her cane at a little coffee shop away from the hurried pushing and shoving of the trains unloading and boarding.

"Stay here. Your known to him and it will draw suspicion." Arthur told the old woman.  
>"Just get the information, young man." Genesis said.<p>

"Mr. Eames?" Cobb said as the Forger artfully transformed into a security guard. The Forger's burly facade made the projections of passengers scatter away from him as he approached the Mark.

The Mark was a young man. No older then Cobb. A slight touch of gray tainting the dark curls of his hair. He looked like the kind of man who could blend into any country in the world. Like he belonged to no nationality or influence. His clothing was casual enough. The kind that an experienced world traveler would pick.

"Sir?" Said Eames disguised as the station police. "Can I see some identification please?"

The Mark looked up at the policeman. A big hulking figure who looked happy to bust some heads if the occasion called for it. And then, even if it didn't.

"My ID? Certainly." he said casually reaching in his breast pocket for one of his many passports. All in different names.

"Here." He said handing the passport to the policeman.

The big man glanced over the papers before asking him to stand.

"What for?" The Mark asked feeling irritated.

"Sir, please stand up." The guard said taking the Mark by the arm.

The Forger's movements were so subtle, so clean and precise, the Mark never saw the hand go into the pocket and take out the four extra passports with their fake names and identification.

"Hey! Listen!" The Mark said growing angry.

"Security? _Security!_" a blond gentleman shouted coming into the coffee shop.

"What's wrong?" The Policeman asked looking annoyed.

"There is a man waving a gun around on dock 12." Cobb said seeming out of breath and looking scared. The policeman released the Mark and promptly raced out of the coffee shop. Calling for back up.

~ "What kind of nonsense is this?" Genesis asked as they watched the guard melt into a commuter as the Mark's projections tried to catch him.

"It's a ploy we used to divert attention away from the invaders of the subconscious. By saving the Mark from the guard, it makes the him trust Cobb." Arthur said. "We use it a lot. It's simple but always effective." He added.

~ "That was a lucky break." The Mark said. His accent American.

Cobb nodded briefly as he wondered if the secrets he was about to extract from this man would put his home land in danger. This man might work for his own government. He could be a traitor to his country if he proceeded.

The image of his children in the path of that cannon made him solider on.

"I never like Police badgering innocent people." Cobb said with a conspiratorial smile.  
>"Tell me about it." The Mark laughed into his drink. An easy American laugh.<p>

"Dominic Charles." Cobb said extending his had.

"Eric Williams." The Mark said shaking his hand in a friendly way. "Let me buy you a drink." He offered.

"Thank you." Cobb said sitting down.

They engaged in friendly small talk, Eric telling Cobb he was from Michigan. Had a family back home. A boring life that made Cobb doubtful. The man wore no wedding band or had that far away look to him that all happily married men possessed when they spoke of their families. He also had no bitterness in his eyes from an man who was unhappy in his family life.

~ "We don't have time for this." Genesis said disdainfully as she and Arthur watched Cobb and Williams talk in the shop.

"You wanted the best extraction Team? Then this is how we extract information. We get the Mark to trust us and find out where he keeps his secrets. Right now, Eames is talking to the security guards, gaining information that way." The Point Man said throwing her an angry look.

"Work faster." Genesis growled.

~ Outside the apartment Ariadne called home, the Architect and Edwina Sharp were holding fast to three children as they kept to the seldom used freight alleyways. Ariadne was careful to look for security cameras as the strange group proceeded. Twilight was falling over the city. Casting a pleasant evening's cool over the city. Stars were popping out, one by one.

She sighed in relief when she saw it. Sadie's yellow car parked haphazardly in a fire zone.

"What is this all about?" The leggy woman asked. The Architect having woken her up out of a deep sleep and telling her to meet them at this location.

"I didn't even have time to put my make up on!" Sadie fumed. Her face was much younger and more attractive without the pounds of make-up she applied daily. Her eyes were wide and lovely without the spidery false eye lashes.

Ariadne was feeling tired. She was too pregnant to be wandering around the streets of Paris with three small children. Her baby had been kicking her all day.

'_Going to have Arthur's long legs._' She thought with a faint feeling of annoyance. He pressed a hand to her tight skin as she felt him kick again. That little trouble making foot moving.  
>"Sadie, I need you..." She breathed heavily "To take the kids to that little place of Jon's. The one we went to our first summer in school."<p>

"The one in-" Sadie tried to say.

"Not out loud!" Ariadne hissed remembering Saito's note. Edwina helped load the kids into the too small car. "Don't call my phone until I call you. Just go there and wait for me to call. Take Edwina with you."

"Ari... what's happening?" Edwina asked as she ducked into the car.

"Does this have something to do with Eames leaving me a few hours ago?" Sadie asked. A worried look on her face.

"Eames is gone?" Ariadne asked. She felt dizzy.

'_They probably got Arthur to_.' She thought. Her son kicked her angrily again.

"Just go." the Architect told Sadie. Without being told twice, the leggy blond set a heavy foot on the gas and yellow car roared away.

Darcy waving at her from the back seat.


	6. Chapter 6

6.

~ Specks was frantic. Not only had he lost the signal to the apartment, but he had spilled his Red Bull over the control panel and now everything was sticky. How could he explain all of this to the old bat? She didn't like excuses or screw ups. No matter who's fault it was.

'_Why did we lose the signal?_' He thought as he tried to adjust the band with. Last he saw, the lady of the house was in the kitchen and the kids were playing. That cute secretary was reading in her room. No one suspected they were under surveillance. Still the cameras came back as static. Like the circuits had been fried.

He sighed.

"Specks to base." He said into the emergency phone. A voice came back to him. A voice he didn't want to have to explain this new development to.

"Uh, yes sir. No sir." Speck said pushing up his glasses. "We've lost contact with the apartment the family is in, sir." he said humbly. "Yes sir, no sir." He said feeling himself break into a cold sweat.

He looked quickly at the monitor of Genesis with the Extraction Team. They were still under with the prisoner.

"Genesis is still under, sir." He told the voice on the other line. His eyes going to the cannon's remote. A shinny red button that when engaged, would decimate the entire building. Family and cute secretary with it.

~ "Something's off." Eames whispered to Arthur. He kept his voice low as the Point Man and old lady watched Cobb and Williams, the Mark, talk in the coffee shop. Genesis was sitting in the distance and didn't suspect that the two men were talking. Eames had forged himself into a grumpy looking old man. A random commuter who happened to have sat down behind the Point Man on one of the benches.

Arthur straitened up and didn't turn around.

"How so?" He said in a low voice. Hoping Genesis wouldn't hear.

"Security here, their like all American Boy Scouts. Never seen projections like that. This guy has a lot of phoney passports to." The Forger added.

"Who does that?" Arthur said softly. More to himself then to Eames.

"A spy that's who." Eames said through the disguise of the old man. "A spy who is distrustful of wholesome, corn fed Americans."

"Any idea who this guy really is?" Arthur asked in a low voice as a crowd of projections looked at them.

"None. But what ever it is, the number four plays into the equation a lot. He had four passports, four security guards ran me down. Almost everything is in groups of four." Eames said shifting in his seat. "This whole thing seems rotten."

"No kidding." Arthur said.

He could feel the Forger stand up behind him and didn't turn around to watch him leave. Genesis turned to the Point Man. An angry look in her small eyes.

"How much longer is Cobb going to be?" She asked.

"It will take as long as it will take." Arthur said harshly. Wondering for the hundredth time where her accent was from and why she wanted information from a potential spy who hated Americans.

~ "So if you wanted to hid information from someone in your mind..." Cobb said casually looking at Williams' face for a clue. "You can't because you always give yourself away. Facial ticks from suggestive manipulation."

"How so?" Williams asked thoroughly engaged as the Extractor went on.

"I say, 'Don't think about elephants'." Cobb said remembering Arthur's favorite example. "Tell me what you think about."

"I think about elephants." Williams said as a unusually attractive blonde woman sat in the chair next to the Mark. The Forger in disguise.

"And if I were to say to you, 'Where would you hide your secrets from someone who would steal them...' Tell me what you would think about." Cobb asked not taking his eyes off Williams.

The Mark's face turned to stone. Realizing the Extractor was attempting to gain information from him. But just like those pesky elephants, he could not stop his eyes sliding over to a bank of lockers. The kind of lockers passengers used to stow excess baggage before it was time to board their train.

Before Cobb could react, Williams was on his feet. A swift punch to the face and Cobb was down.

An army of projections paused in their travels and stared at Arthur and Genesis.

~ "Ariadne was walking the streets of Paris as she felt her son's insistent kicking. Always the same little foot. She put her hand to it, trying to quite him. Wondering if the baby could feel her hand through the layers of skin. She searched for the car Saito had promised when suddenly a black luxury sedan pulled up beside her.

A man calling her by her married name. She looked around and quickly ducked into the back seat.

"Wasn't expecting to see you in Paris." She said to Saito. The business man gave her a boyish smile.

"As I said in my letter, I have good reason to believe you and your family are in danger." He said as the driver pulled into traffic,

"What makes you think that?" She asked. Readjusting her now uncomfortable body weight as she tried to look out the window. "I haven't seen anything unusual." She told him. "But Eames is gone and Cobb left his kids home alone. Arthur may be involved in what ever this is to." She said worriedly rubbing her hand over her belly. "I got the kids away from the apartment like you told me." She added.

"A few days ago, an old woman came to me. She knew all about Robert Fischer." Saito said. "Wanted to know about the Extraction Team." He said casually. "I felt I owed it to Cobb to let you know someone might be wanting to reach you."

"What made you think they were watching us?" She asked remembering the note.

"Because they had _me_ under surveillance." Saito said lazily. "After that, we started watching _them_. It's how we knew you and the children were in danger."

"What kind of danger?" Ariadne asked feeling her heart race.  
>"The worst kind." Saito said. "I don't think your husband and his friends will be harmed. It's their skills the old woman was after." Saito said.<p>

He looked at Ariadne's large belly.

"Congratulations are in order." Her said with a nod.  
>"We were hoping to see you at the wedding." She said with a half smile.<p>

"That... would not have been appropriate considering how we are not supposed to know one another." Saito said with a small mischievous grin. "Please accept my apologies and consider what we are about to do, a belated wedding present." He added.


	7. Chapter 7

7.

~ A riot broke out in the train station. Arthur had been ready for it, but nothing could prepare him for the massive amounts of projections that suddenly stopped what they were doing and stared at him. It was like something out of a horror movie. The projections vacant stares like zombies.

Then they attacked. As Williams was fighting Cobb the Extractor yelled to the pretty blonde woman in the revealing dress.  
>"Eames! The bank of lockers! Go!"<p>

The Forger, in the panic, melted back into his natural form and raced to the lockers. He easily over took the patrons of the coffee shop as they advanced. The Forger threw a quick look over his shoulder to the Point Man and old woman.

They were fairing far better then anyone would have guessed. Arthur was able to take out several projections bare handed as Genesis' cane unhooked and became a dual sword.  
>"Here young man." She said handing him one. "This might help."<p>

Arthur took the weapon and fought back the advancing crowd as Genesis casually stabbed and swept away a path to the bank of lockers.

Four arriving trains made an convenient barrier against more projections reaching them but there were still several dozen of them wanting to advance on the old lady and Point Man. Arthur noticed how strong and capable the old woman was in the dreams compared to real life. Her hidden sword cane was unexpected and impressive.

The station clocks chimed out four o'clock as Eames reached to the bank of lockers. All of them were locked and he was grateful the lockers were located in less traveled part of the station.

"Gotta go with number four." Eames whispered as he looked at the shinny lock on number four. With his easy natural skill, the Forger rolled the combination around to four, then four again. His careful, well practiced hands feeling the faint click as each tumbler fell into place.

Then, the locker was open as Cobb arrived next to him. Having finally freed himself from his fight with the Mark. Both men took the papers out of the locker. A disorganized set of maps and chemical formulas.

"Dominic!" Roared the Mark. The projections suddenly stopped. As if obeying their master's command. The Team stopped as the projections became still and waited for Williams to speak.

Cobb tore his gaze off a frightful looking medical documents as he looked up at Williams. Arthur and Genesis standing between them and the Mark with his army.

"You don't know what your doing." Williams said in his easy cowboy like accent. "You cant let her get that information." He said spitting blood out on the ground. His face beaten and bloodied by the Extractor.

"It's _you_ we can't let have this information." Genesis said casually. Not even winded by her battle with the projections.  
>"Listen to me, Mr. Charles." Williams growled. His face in a rage. "She will kill you and your families once she has the information."<p>

"Don't listen to him." Genesis said as Eames looked over the maps and lab documents.

"Cobb." The Forger whispered. "It's a virus. Something the government kept in lock up. It's been stolen I think. Moved to another location." He said fearfully.

"Tell me where it is, Cobb!" Genesis shouted, pointing her sword at Williams. The Mark keeping his hands up but with a menacing look in his eye.

"Don't tell her, Cobb!" Williams barked. "She's the one who stole it! Why would I betray my own country? She stole it. Her and her people are _terrorists!_ Listen to her accent! You tell me who's the American. You tell me who you can trust!"

The Mark looked at Cobb and Eames, still looking through his secrets they pulled from the lockers.

"She kidnapped you, didn't she? Threatened your families maybe? That's what she does. You cant trust her!" Williams shouted. In desperation.

Cobb snapped his head up.

"No, Cobb!" Genesis shouted back. "Tell me where the virus was taken to! Tell me now!" The old lady shouted in her strange foreign accent.

The Extractor had been doing this for a long time. He knew what to look for in someone's mind. He knew who he could trust when their inner most secrets were broken into and laid on the floor.

"He has a contact in Roswell, New Mexico." Cobb said sadly. "He took the virus to little motel four miles from where you caught him. It's still there. In room number four." The Extractor said.  
>Cobb looked at the man who had betrayed his country for a four million dollars. Who was paid by terrorists to gain access to a lab that had kept a sample of small pox in storage. A man who stole the virus knowing it would be used to kill innocent people.<p>

No wonder Genesis thought men who could be bought, were men who could not be trusted.

Williams looked hatefully at the Extraction Team. His hoard of projections advanced on them. Ripping them apart.

~ Specks was still trying to re-establish connection with the cameras in the apartment when the back doors to the van opened wide and two hulk like men pulled him out. He couldn't help but let out a whimper as he tried feebly to escape their ape like hold.

"Where's my husband?" The pregnant lady from the apartment barked, once the technician was properly secured and afraid.

"He... he's _fine_." Specks stammered as a well dressed Asian man stepped lightly into his van and looked with annoyance over the junk food wrappers that littered the floor.

"Ariadne?" Saito said calling her to come and see.

Somehow, the Architect managed to pull her heavy body up into the van and took a seat next to Saito.

She almost stopped breathing when she saw her husband, Cobb and Eames were on a monitoring screen. They were laid out in office chairs. A PASIV device at it's center. An old woman and a man with a cloth bag over his face were also under.

"Where is the feed coming from?" She demanded from the technician. Still being held by Saito's security guards.

"I can't tell you that." Specks said. To which one of the apes promptly punched him the gut. Specks lost his breath and gagged. He felt those Cheetos wanting to come back up.

The emergency phone rang out. Clear and sharp.

"Don't answer that." Specks choked. His thick glasses at an angle. Ariadne ignored him as she picked up the phone.

"Who is this? Where have you taken my husband and his friends?" She demanded.

A voice came back to her on the other line. One she was not expecting.

She was listening to the voice as Saito watched her worriedly. Her face fell and lost it's color. Specks was shaking his head.

"Yes, sir." She said in a shocked voice. "I do." She added. "Yes, sir. Alright. I understand." She gave Saito a frightened look as the business man looked confused.

"Oh, yes sir." Ariadne said brightly but still looking shocked. Her hand going to her belly. "Yes, well, I think it's a boy. Thank you sir. I will sir." Ariadne told the voice. She hung up the phone and took a deep breath.

"That was the President of the United States." She said trying to sound casual. "It seems Arthur and the others were drafted to help with a terrorist threat." She said smoothing out her hair. Trying to sound casual and not like some deranged woman who had interfered with an important mission.

Another phone rang and Ariadne and Saito looked at the monitors. The Team was waking up.

"I need to get that!" Specks called out. "That's the old lady!"

Ariadne and Saito carefully climbed out of the van. The hired Apes let him go and he scampered back in and answered the phone.

"Yes?" He answered.

"The Virus is at the motel four miles from that dive we found him in. Room four." Genesis said as Cobb was checking Williams' pulse. The traitor was still under. Eames and Arthur were unhooking themselves from the PASIV. They had all woken up when the projections converged. The Extractor kept Williams sedated with the compound.

"Send the team in and have it secured. We don't have much time before the contact shows up." The old lady said leaning on her cane. She listened to her phone carefully as Specks told her something.  
>"I see." The old lady said and hung up.<p>

"You have your information." Arthur said. "My family." He added.

"Your family is perfectly safe, young man." Genesis said. "And somewhat more resourceful then we thought." She added.


	8. Chapter 8

8.

~ "We had to hold your family hostage because we needed the information on the virus quickly." Genesis said as she walked with the men back into the penthouse. "Don't worry, our people will be here soon to get _him_." She nodded at the still sleeping figure of Williams.

"His contact would have taken the virus in a few more hours." Eames said.

Genesis nodded.

"Right now, a team is taking over that little dive of a motel. Tearing it apart. Lets just hope you were right." The old lady said.

"We were." Cobb told him.

"I would like to apologize to you for holding your families hostage. Trust me when I say the cannon was just for show. It was never loaded or even fully operational. It was just to scare you into compliance. It's crude, but it always works." Genesis said.

"Who are you? I mean really." Arthur asked as the old lady hobbled on her cane to the elevator. Suddenly she was a harmless old woman. Hard to believe she could have taken them hostage and threaten their families.

Genesis laughed.

"Believe it or not, I was not that different from you." She said. "During the war, I was an intelligence officer, or spy if you will, for the Allies. I've been working with the Americans since the war ended."

"The Allies? As in World War 2?" Eames said.

Genesis nodded.

"Shook hands with Churchill." She said with a smile.

"How old are you?" Eames asked in disbelief. The old lady gave him an annoyed look.

"I don't need to tell you fine young men, not to talk about this little _diversion_ to anyone. I need you to forget this ever happened." She said seriously. "You all have families to think of, and the less you know, the better."

"What's going to happen to him? To Williams?" Cobb asked.  
>"Can't tell you that." Genesis said. "But nothing good I'm sure."<p>

"You know, you could have just asked." Arthur said still angry about the cannon, but feeling the tightening in his chest loosen.

"We trusted Williams once. Only to discover he could be bought. I never trust people who can be bought." She told him. "Now, lets get you back to your lovely wife. I know she's worried about you."

~ Outside, the night had rolled around and claimed the sky. The fading light of the sun saying goodbye to another day. A white van and large, luxury car were parked outside the empty apartment building. Arthur breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"Ariadne?" He said as his wife was quickly in his arms. His hands encircled her and then moved to her large belly. "Are you alright?" He asked. "How did you find us?"

"Saito." Ariadne said looking relived to see her husband. "Arthur, I talked to the President." She whispered. Her eyes wide.

"I wouldn't talk about_ that_ again if I were you." Genesis warned. The door of the white van opened up and Specks popped out.

"Sorry Genesis." He said. "That guy had his thugs grab me."

Saito and his personal body guards leaned against the luxury car. The Extractor shaking the business man's hand.  
>"That's quite alright Specks." Genesis said. "We got the information."<p>

"The ops team just radioed in. Package is secure." Specks said.

"That's _very_ good news." the old lady said. Her voice showing she was tired.

"President is happy." Specks added

"Oh well,_ now_ I can die a happy woman." Genesis said sarcastically. "Thank you Mr. Cobb. You have done your country a great service and I apologize for the mild inconvenience."

"_Hey!_" Ariadne snapped before Cobb and the others could respond.

The old woman turned and looked at the Architect in surprise.

"There was no _inconvenience_ here. You kidnapped my husband and threatened my daughter and my friend's children. Your apology is not accepted."

"Ariadne." Arthur whispered.  
>"Get in the car!" The Architect barked at the men who were taken aback at the forceful attitude of the once sweet and nurturing woman. They quickly crowded into the large black car as the two body guards ducked into the front seat.<p>

"You could have _asked_ for our help. That's the _reasonable_ thing to do." Ariadne hissed at Genesis. "And I don't care who you answer to or what the threat is, if you _ever_ threaten my family again you'll have me to answer to." She finished. Genesis only looked mildly chastised.

The Architect looked at Specks.

"As for you, don't you ever come near my home again." She growled. "It was easy to jam the cameras and trace the signal to your little van. I can do it again."

Specks looked hurt as Genesis gave the Architect a grumpy look.  
>"I guess this is a bad time to ask if you sectary is single." Specks said.<p>

When Ariadne gave him a fierce look, he jumped back into his refuge of computers, Cheetos and Red Bull.

"You are _very_ impressive." Genesis said. "No wonder you can keep up with them." She nodded to the car where the rest of the Team was waiting for their Architect.

The old lady fished out a business card.

"If you ever want a change of career, call me. The world of dreams are fine and dandy, but the real world is far more interesting." The old woman said giving the Architect a salute.

"Thank You." Ariadne said with a scowl. She watched the old lady climb into the van and Specks drive off.

~ Inside the car Arthur, Cobb and Saito watched Ariadne vent her frustrations at Genesis and her tech pet. Only the Forger seemed not to care about the argument.

"Hey." Eames said suddenly. "You guys think I could pull off a cane like Genesis?"

The men turned and looked at the Forger. Eames only shrugged.

"You have to admit that sword cane was pretty bad ass." He said.

The men didn't answer as they watched the Architect again.

"It was pretty cool." Cobb conceded after a while.


	9. Chapter 9

9.

~ Saito had the Team dropped off at the apartment. Ariadne called Sadie and told her to bring the kids and Edwina back home.

"I've changed my mind." Sadie was crying. "I don't want to have a baby." The tall woman looked a disaster. Her normally well styled hair and dress was a mess of grape juice stains and small hand prints covered in dirt. Her few hours with the kids had obviously been an enlightening one.

"It's alright, Darling." Eames said looking relived. "We can get a house cat." He said taking her in his arms and looked for a place to kiss her that wasn't covered in dirt.  
>"House <em>plant<em> you mean." Sadie said looking at the sticky jelly that James had left on her shoes.

"Hey, do you think I would look good with a cane?" He asked his still attractive, even when dirty, girlfriend. Sadie gave him a look that silenced any other questions.

~ Cobb was happy to be reunited with his children again. The Extractor breathing a deep sigh of relief as James and Phillipa told him about the fun time they had in the country. The children had been oblivious to the chaotic events of the day.  
>Edwina was scolding Darcy for getting in the mud. The little girl gave Arthur a toothless grin that he couldn't help but smile back at.<p>

"Strait into the bath tub with you." Edwina was saying pulling the rambunctious 6 year old into the bathroom. Her once pristine pink dress covered in dirt. Darcy laughing and asking for bubbles.

Ariadne sighed as her husband held her. Her son kicking her again.

"Eames, the stains will never come out of the car!" Sadie cried. A petulant cry of a well spoiled woman.

Arthur could feel his wife laughing as James and Phillipa were telling Cobb about the country side and trying to get Sadie to have a mud fight with them.

'_My whole life is here._' He thought as his wife guided his hand to feel his son kick.

"That little foot had been kicking me all day." She complained into his ear as he smiled.

_ ~ END ~_

**This was one of those stories that just wrote itself. I love it when they do that! **


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